Express & Star

Express & Star comment: Firesetting is reckless and stupid

Destructive, merciless, and wild, fire is a force of nature which stirs a primeval fear.

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Roughly half of all fires being dealt with by firefighters across our region are the work of arsonists

And unfortunately it is also a source of fascination to some reckless, stupid, or criminal people.

It is almost beyond belief that roughly half of all fires being dealt with by firefighters across our region are the work of arsonists.

It is true that most of these deliberate fires are classed as minor. But those who are setting them are toying with forces that they cannot control and with consequences they cannot predict.

There are countless examples of flickering flames quickly becoming raging infernos.

An obvious case to demonstrate how quickly things can develop – albeit one in which it should be stressed that the cause was accidental – was the Grenfell Tower tragedy, in which a small fire rapidly spread throughout the tower block with grievous loss of life.

There are many scenarios. For example, the youngsters who thought it might be fun to set light to some rubbish bins next to a school.

The burning bins set fire to the building, causing devastation.

And then there were the children who broke in to a school and set fire to some papers – another school was reduced to embers.

The culprits did not intend for these things to happen.

Things got out of hand. This is often the story. It is criminal damage committed with fire. But once fire is set free, it is a roll of the dice.

It means that firesetters of young years who are essentially being naughty, reckless, and appallingly irresponsible can potentially cause as much destruction and loss of life as those at the other end of the scale, who are deliberately using fire as a weapon and a tool.

To these classes of offenders we can add another – those who take a sick pleasure in seeing things burn.

For children, initiatives like the Flames Aren’t Games campaign run in Staffordshire can play a part in hitting home the message about the seriousness of deliberately starting fires. Older offenders face sentencing options in the courts which already should make them think twice, ranging up to and including life in jail – even if nobody died.

Fire crews cannot ignore the small fires, and dealing with them diverts resources from where they may be needed. When it comes to fire, there is no such thing as a harmless prank.

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